08:26 AM EDT, 08/05/2024 (MT Newswires) -- (Updates with Stellantis ( STLA ) comment in second to last paragraph.)

Stellantis ( STLA ) faces an upgraded investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration into door locks and windows on Dodge Journey vehicles, agency documents showed.

The administration's Office of Defects Investigation in May 2023 investigated an "incident involving a 2009 Dodge Journey alleging occupant entrapment during a vehicle fire that resulted in a fatality."

The probe was upgraded into an engineering analysis from a preliminary evaluation, partly "to explore other potential causes for door lock malfunction," the office said in a document dated Thursday on its website.

"Inoperative door locks and windows may prevent vehicle occupants from exiting the vehicle during an emergency," the office said. The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the agency.

The probe involves 992,643 Dodge Journey vehicles made from 2009 to 2020, according to the office's document

"We extend our sincerest sympathies to the family and friends of the customer whose life was lost, and we are providing NHTSA with our full cooperation," Stellantis ( STLA ) said in an emailed statement.

The company's shares fell 3.5% in recent trading Friday.

Price: 15.57, Change: -0.56, Percent Change: -3.47